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Does the Pram battery still exist in todays Macs ?
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Once upon a time if you owned a Mac it was practically a rule of thumb and really worthwhile replacing a "Pram" battery, every 3 years.
Does this rule still apply, to iMac's in particular ?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Eh, sort of but not really. There is a battery on the motherboard of every computer, but it isn't used unless you pull the plug - even if the computer is off, the parts that need constant power get power from the wall. The battery is only ever used when the computer is stored without power or if there is a power failure.
The old rule about replacing the PRAM battery was because Macs could have problems booting with a dead PRAM battery, so as a precaution one was advised to replace it often (even if 3 years is excessive). That is no longer the case - the first slotloading iMac G3 had a firmware update that accidentally drained the PRAM battery. I had one of those, with a completely dead battery, and I didn't bother replacing it until several years later. I never had a booting problem, and I must have rebooted it hundreds of times including when it had been unplugged. The only effect was the clock being wrong when the plug had been out for more than a few minutes.
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The low-end Mac Pro is the most overpriced Mac since the IIvx
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: BFE
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27" iMac does.
Look in the center of the image for the silver disc.
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I like peanut butter
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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The battery is of course still there. However, on a modern Mac there is certainly no reason to replace it every three years. You replace it when it dies. Which usually doesn't happen during the Mac's 'useful' lifetime.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
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Yeah, but you can't actually replace it yourself.
However, the 27" iMac is one that might actually be quite useful after 3 years, with its 27" screen, 4 memory slots and quad-core CPU.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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It works fine without the battery, though - all youhave to do is reset the clock after a power failure.
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The low-end Mac Pro is the most overpriced Mac since the IIvx
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Thank you all for your responses, the problem I'm currently experiencing with my my iMac seems to have nought to do with the Pram or Pram battery regarding my current hardware problem, which thankfully is now in the capable hands of AppleCare support.
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